Aenigmastropheus

Ay-nig-ma-stro-fee-us.
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John Stewart

Paleoecologist

John Stewart is a distinguished paleoecologist whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of prehistoric ecosystems. With over two decades dedicated to unearthing fossils across Asia and Africa

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Name

Aenigmastropheus ‭(‬Enigmatic vertebrae‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ay-nig-ma-stro-fee-us.

Named By

M.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Ezcurra,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Scheyer‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Butler‭ ‬-‭ ‬2014.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Protorosauria,‭ ‬Protorosauridae.

Diet

Insectivore‭?

Species

A.‭ ‬parringtoni

Size

Unknown.

Known locations

Tanzania‭ ‬-‭ ‬Songea District‭ ‬-‭ ‬Usili Formation.

Time Period

Late Permian.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial skeleton.

In Depth

       First collected in‭ ‬1933,‭ ‬and tentatively described in‭ ‬1956,‭ ‬the fossils of Aenigmastropheus were not granted their own genus until‭ ‬2014.‭ ‬Aenigmastropheus is a genus of archosauromorph saurian that lived in Tanzania during the Late Permain,‭ ‬something that makes Aenigmastropheus the first and at the time of writing only known late‭ ‬Permian protosaur from the Southern hemisphere.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬The Origin and Early Evolution of Sauria:‭ ‬Reassessing the Permian Saurian Fossil Record and the Timing of the Crocodile-Lizard Divergence.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS ONE‭ ‬9‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬e89165.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Ezcurra,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Scheyer‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Butler‭ ‬-‭ ‬2014

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